Associate Director, Research Alliances

Job Title: Associate Director, Research Alliances

Position Summary:

Within MJFF, Research Alliances supports the Foundation’s mission of developing improved Parkinson’s therapies through its focus on ensuring a high level of active commitment among relevant stakeholders to Parkinson’s disease R&D and the integration of those stakeholders across mission and project-specific initiatives. This position is focused on developing partnerships with various stakeholders with a focus on industry (pharma, biotech, and health tech) and other research funders (government funders, PD non-profit organizations, and other donor and venture capital funders).

There are huge unmet patient needs in Parkinson’s. We build partnerships with companies and other funders invested in Parkinson’s disease to accelerate drug discovery through clinical development and to ensure that new therapies that come to market make it into the hands of people with Parkinson’s. We actively partner with the industry groups and funding organizations in a variety of ways including funding research projects, consulting on therapeutic development and clinical operation plans, developing pre-competitive multi-stakeholder consortia, and facilitating connections with the Parkinson’s patient community. By joining MJFF as an Associate Director, you will play a critical role in cultivating partnerships and developing programs designed to increase the Foundation’s engagement with new and existing partners. The job enables you to collaborate cross-functionally with diverse internal colleagues, members of the scientific community, and government, non-profit and industry sectors. The position also provides you opportunities to develop and manage partnership programs with a focus on aligning novel projects with MJFF’s mission and inserting strategic business input and oversight.

You will report to the Vice President of Research Alliances and enjoy frequent, direct interactions with senior leadership across MJFF and leading healthcare companies globally. The Associate Director, Research Alliances will be expected to have a hybrid flex work schedule with at least part-time in MJFF’s office in Midtown New York City. Standard business hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Foundation supports flexible and remote work schedules.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Manage a portfolio of relationships with companies (e.g. pharmaceutical, biotech, health-tech) and other research funders (government funders, PD non-profit organizations, and other donor and venture capital funders) invested in Parkinson’s with a focus on relationship stewardship – deepening alliances with existing partners and cultivating new collaborations and contacts (individuals and organizations).
Act as external partner’s liaison and consistent point of contact at MJFF; facilitate handoffs with technical experts and sub-teams across MJFF departments to accelerate collaborative research and educational programs.
Evaluate industry, non-profit, government and venture capital sectors’ R&D portfolios using primary and secondary research to provide objective, in-depth understanding of the PD drug development landscape, players, and challenges in order to prioritize MJFF’s internal intellectual and financial partner engagement tactics.
Provide insights, analyses and strategic recommendations to C-suite management at MJFF to support dynamic partnership cultivation based on key sector challenges for PD therapeutic development.
Identify synergies between individual organization needs and MJFF-scientific and educational priorities to develop and pitch proposals for partnership and/or sponsorship; provide recommendations to align MJFF engagement strategies and initiatives with key sector practices.
Act as a strategic internal spokesperson to frame and address key programmatic research questions with the goal of identifying partnership opportunities that advance MJFF’s mission.
Communicate MJFF research, policy, and educational activities across relevant internal and external forums (e.g. industry-relevant conferences, workshops, partnering meetings); share information and broadly inform key decision makers; embed a holistic MJFF point-of-view into investments in partnership opportunities.

Qualifications and Skills:

An outstanding Associate Director is a self-starter who can delve into projects that support aggressive organizational goals while prioritizing multiple concurrent relationships and initiatives involving internal and external stakeholders. Excellent communication (written, verbal and presentation) and interpersonal skills are a must. The best candidates will also have experience in business development or client management. The role demands the ability to quickly learn, think on one’s feet, and understand and communicate scientific information at a high standard – a background in drug development, pharmaceutical industry and/or the healthcare sector is a bonus though not required. The Associate Director, Research Alliances must also be willing to travel as needed.

Ideal candidates will also bring:

Ability to think big picture and strategically, while maintaining excellent attention to detail.
Sophisticated project and relationship management skills, ideally with 3-5 years’ experience managing a portfolio comprised of complex multi-party projects and/or relationships; ability to balance multiple initiatives and prioritize activities.
External relationship management focus with strong networking capabilities and integration with individuals from all levels of an organization; ability to understand individual stakeholder goals and objectives.
Exceptional communication skills – can readily align his/her interpersonal style with the individual needs of internal and external partners; can understand, translate and distill complex, technical findings into clear and simple information that enables decision making.
Experience leading and achieving results through matrixed organizations.
Commitment to teamwork; ability to collaborate and manage projects with and through others; ability to influence action without direct authority.
Non-compensated leadership experience (community outreach, committee involvement).
Willingness to adapt when necessary; comfortable with ambiguity and flexible to changing business dynamics and priorities.
Clear alignment with MJFF Core Values of Urgency, Optimism, Resourcefulness, Collaboration, Accountability and Persistence.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit a resume and thoughtful cover letter describing their specific qualifications and interest in the position. Applicants who best match the position's needs will be contacted.

About Us:

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) was founded in 2000 with one clear objective: accelerating meaningful therapeutic advances and, ultimately, a cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Foundation applies extraordinary scientific, business and media assets to this singular focus—thus creating a unique and dynamic organization. Since inception, MJFF has quickly grown into the largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s disease research, having funded over $1 billion in research projects in both academic and industry labs worldwide.

Core to our philosophy is how we think of our capital and its risk profile relative to other stakeholders in the drug development pipeline. We work aggressively to de-risk various therapeutic strategies and tools in the hopes of building a robust pipeline of new treatments for patients. In order to achieve our mission of finding a cure for PD it is critical that we engage with, and bring together, members of the PD community including researchers, physicians, health professionals and most important, people with Parkinson's and their families.

We believe that to find a cure for PD as quickly as possible, our capital needs to push research forward today—we therefore deliberately hold no endowment or excessive reserves. We instead seek to deploy funds raised as quickly and wisely as possible. MJFF raises over $200 million annually. Today, the Foundation has approximately 186 full-time employees. We offer a collegial and collaborative environment where optimistic problem-solvers and entrepreneurial, resourceful individuals can thrive and make a tangible difference for millions of people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Vaccine Statement:

At The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF), the health and safety of our team and our community is a priority. MJFF has made the decision to require all staff receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Successful applicants for this position must be fully vaccinated by date of hire and proof of vaccine is required. Full vaccination is defined as two weeks after both doses of two-dose vaccine or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine has been administered. Anyone unable to be vaccinated, because of medical or religious reasons, can request a reasonable accommodation for consideration.

MJFF is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from individuals who will contribute to our efforts to build and support a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. Diversity may refer to characteristics including, but not limited to, race, religion, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic circumstance, geographic background, ability and disability, political ideology, and age.